Your 10-year-old nephew, the one playing Little League right now... if he's left-handed, he can probably get the Indians out.

There are a lot of things wrong with the Indians right now:

New acquisition John Axford has done so poorly he was removed from the closer's role...

The supposed-to-be-awesome Danny Salazar has done so poorly he was demoted to Triple-A...

The team has made 43 errors in 43 games, which is the absolute worst in baseball. Let's see, I'm no math expert, but I believe that gives them an average of exactly one error per game. There are 162 games in a season, so... (sorry for all the complex calculations) that puts them on pace for 162 errors. No MLB team has made that many since the 1993 Colorado Rockies, who at least had the excuse of being an expansion team.

Ugly, ugly stuff. Today though, I'm here to mention a different thing the Indians are doing worse than any team in recent history: Hit left-handed pitching.

The Indians are batting .212 as a team against lefties so far this season. That puts them last among all 30 MLB teams. They're not hitting for much pop when they do hit them either, leaving them with an MLB-worst .326 slugging percentage and an MLB-worst .612 OPS (and keep in mind that National League teams have pitchers getting a chunk of their at bats, yet the Tribe has done worse than any of them).

sOPS+ takes OPS in a particular split (in this case, hitting lefties) and compares it to the league average at that split. It's the same idea as OPS+, but only for whatever split you're interested in. The Indians' sOPS+ for hitting lefties is 71. Remember how Carlos Santana is in a brutal slump to begin this year, so bad that many Tribe fans want him out of the lineup? Well, his OPS+ this season is 78. That means that as a team, the Indians have been 7% worse than Carlos Santana so far this season. Yikes!

The last team with a lower OPS against left-handed pitchers than the Indians have right now was the 1982 Houston Astros. The last team with a lower slugging percentage was the 1981 San Diego Padres. The last team with a lower batting average was the 1971 Milwaukee Brewers.

Just about any way you slice it, the Indians are hitting lefties worse than any team in more than 30 years. And among AL teams, they're hitting lefties worse than any team since the designated hitter was implemented in 1973.

Regression to the mean tells us the Indians will almost certainly boost their current numbers, but even if their team batting average against southpaws goes up 20 points, it'll be the fifth worst in the American League over the last twenty years. Even if they boost it 30 points, it'll be among the 20 worst.

Same thing with with the slugging percentage, a 20-point boost will still place it among the five worst in the AL for the last two decades, and it will take a 45-point improvement to avoid the bottom 20 of the last 20 years.

The current OPS of .612 needs even more work to avoid landing among the very worst of recent history. Only three other AL teams in the last 20 years have been below .640 and only 16 have been below .670.

If you've got any left-handed friends, give them a call. There may be an AL Central team interested in giving them a job.

With the series even at a game apiece, San Diego and Colorado will face off in a rubber game this afternoon to determine the winner of the three-game set. Our Padres were able to back up a strong pitching performance from Robbie Erlin last night with a strong offensive effort. Today they'll try to do the same for Donn Roach.

Andrew Cashner's trip to the 15-day DL opened up the spot in the rotation for the righty Roach, who has made all of his prior big league appearances out of the bullpen. Roach broke camp with the big league club and made his ML debut on April 2nd. Since then he's totaled 21 innings in relief, allowing  seven runs (six earned) while walking eight and striking out 13. That includes an inning against this Rockies team on April 15th at home. He walked two, but allowed no hits and kept them scoreless.

Corey Brock reports that seven Padres relievers will likely be on hand should Roach run into trouble against the Rockies. But Buddy Black expects about a 60-pitch effort from the 24-year-old in his first major league start.

"He can probably give us 60 pitches that we can feel good about," Black said when asked what Roach's ceiling was for a pitch-count.

"He threw two innings the other night [May 15] and had two days off. He has started in his past and he's got a sinkerball where, if it's working, he should be efficient."

#Padres have confidence in turning to Donn Roach to start tomorrow in place of Andrew Cashner. http://t.co/zLxqTAYaR9 

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) May 18, 2014

Colorado will send Juan Nicasio to the mound to try to repeat the results of his previous outing against San Diego this season. Nicasio started that April 15th game at Petco Park, lasting six innings and allowing two runs on six hits on the way to his third career win against the Friars. He is undefeated in six starts all-time against San Diego.

But the right-hander is coming off a loss (his second of the season). He surrendered four runs (two earned) in six innings of work against the Reds in Cincinnati. He is 3-0 in his five starts at home this year.

Tune in for the final game of the series and road trip at 1:10 PDT, and see if our Padres will be boarding a happy flight home today.

The Baby Bull is ready to "hit some bombs," he said before the game.

The Rockies activated catcher Wilin Rosario from the 15-day disabled list prior to their series finale against the Padres on Sunday. The Rockies could use his bat in the lineup; although Rosario struggled to a .239/.274/.398 line before hitting the DL on May 3, Jordan Pacheco and Michael McKenry have been considerably worse at the plate since that point.

Rosario says he at least feels well enough to return to action, though illness caused him to drop nine pounds.

"I feel pretty good. I feel like I can play. I don't think I [am] 100 percent, but I feel better than how I was before," Rosario said before the game.

The illness that corralled The Bull for a few weeks is the same thing that landed Josh Rutledge on the DL. Rutledge was activated and optioned earlier in the week, and Rosario provided some insight as to why that might have happened.

"Josh is still a little bit skinny," said Rosario. That explains the Rockies' decision to send him to the minors and keep Charlie Culberson on the big league roster, though it's likely going to be a short-term move while Rutledge regains his strength.

To make room for Rosario, the Rockies optioned Michael McKenry to Triple-A Colorado Springs. McKenry hung around and took some cuts with the team before the game, meaning he'll likely join the Sky Sox -- who play at 1:35 p.m. MT today -- on Monday.

Juan Nicasio will be on the mound for Colorado opposite San Diego's Donn Roach. Nicasio owns a 3.77 ERA in eight starts and has survived pretty well to this point as a result of his ability to limit walks. He's issuing free passes at a rate of 2.8 per nine innings, which is the second-best mark of his big league career. That said, Nicasio hasn't been quite as good at pitching to contact at Coors Field, though that certainly isn't reflected in his 3.10 ERA in home games.

Roach is starting for the Padres in place of Andrew Cashner, who landed on the 15-day DL on Saturday with elbow soreness. Roach is making his first start of the season for San Diego after posting a 2.57 ERA in 12 relief appearances. Perhaps more interesting is that the 24-year-old right-hander will be batting in the No. 8 spot for the Padres.

Colorado earned its third-ever triple play -- with a little help from an interference call -- in a crucial sequence in the third inning on Sunday.

The Rockies turned their third triple play in franchise history in the third inning of their series finale against the Padres on Sunday at Coors Field.

After Everth Cabrera and Seth Smith reached base on a single and a walk, respectively, Carlos Quentin hit a one-hopper to Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. Arenado touched third and threw to DJ LeMahieu at second for the first two outs. LeMahieu's throw to Justin Morneau at first was a touch late, but Smith was called for interference after sliding into LeMahieu's feet, which were considerably off the base.

Before Sunday, the Rockies last turned a triple play on April 29, 2007, when Troy Tulowitzki earned one of the unassisted variety in a win over the Braves. A little more than four years earlier, Todd Helton and Jose Hernandez turned Colorado's first triple play in a victory over the Cardinals.

All three of the Rockies' triple plays have come at Coors Field.

Kyle Blanks was traded to Oakland several days ago for outfielder Jake Goebbert and a PTBNL. I was on vacation and mostly away from the internet so I'm just now looking through reactions from media and bloggers, there wasn't much.  No one seems ecstatic about the trade from the Padres point of view, but most were realistic that Blanks was never going to be an integral part of the Padres' roster anyway.  Kyle dealt with many injuries with the Padres and never really fit neatly into a defensive position either.  He excelled in the minor leagues but never successfully made the transition to the Major Leagues by playing consistently.  With any luck the change of scenery will do him well and he will find personal success while Oakland in no way benefits from our loss.  No one seems to have anything to say about the acquisition of Goebbert.

This trade is on par with movies such as Date Night, American Psycho and The Rock.

Apologies to RottenTomatoes.com

Large Men, Small Dogs, and a Boatload of Context | Padres Public
Unfortunately he is 27 years old and injury prone, has a long swing and no obvious defensive position. His home/road and left/right splits at the big-league level are almost nonexistent, so it’s hard to imagine a change of scenery or role helping.

Kyle Blanks: A career retrospective … " Follow The Padres
But Blanks’ career was derailed on numerous occasions by injuries — he had Tommy John surgery, shoulder surgery and has had various issues over the years. Staying on the field became an issue. When that becomes a trend, it’s hard for a team to pencil you into their long-term plans.

Kyle Blanks Traded to the Oakland A’s for Jake Goebbert and PTBNL | Friarhood
Blanks was never given a shot in San Diego. You can’t keep putting a 6’6″ 265 in the OF and hoping he won’t get hurt. If the A’s play him at 1B/DH he will provide plenty of pop. Blanks was passed over for Anthony Rizzo, then Yonder Alonso without getting a real shot to play 1B on a regular basis. Now Blanks will finally have a chance to play his natural position.

@MickeyKoke
It's not like Blanks was going to get a chance to play everyday in SD.

@619Sports
I am perplexed/disappointed by the Kyle Blanks trade. Looks more like a giveaway than a trade.

@LeftCoastBias
I liked Kyle Blanks but he never could put it together at the MLB level. Not entirely his fault. Hope for nothing but the best for him.

Like their parent Padres, the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas came back from an early deficit and fought 'til the last out. Unlike their big league counterparts visiting Denver, the Chihuahuas walked away with a win.

Las Vegas jumped out to an early lead when former Padres first-round pick Allan Dykstra hit a solo homer with two outs in the top of the ninth. Starting pitcher Keyvius Sampson stayed out of trouble in the second and third innings, but surrendered a two-run shot to Omar Quintanilla in the fourth. He gave up another two-run homer in the fifth, this time to Andrew Brown, and left the game with two outs in the fifth inning and a runner on base. Tim Sexton came in and allowed a single, and then a double that plated two and gave the 51's a 7-0 lead.

The Pups clawed their way onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Second baseman Tyler Greene, former teammate of Khalil Greene in St. Louis, broke up Logan Verrett's shutout with his second home run of the season. Sexton held the 51's scoreless in the top of the sixth, and the bats came out en masse in the bottom of the frame. Verrett gave up five hits without recording a single out, and was succeeded by Joel Carreno. He got a strikeout and allowed a run on a sacrifice fly before Greene touched him up for another run on a double. After a walk to Rocky Gale, Cody Decker came in as a pinch-hitter and hit a double of his own to plate Greene and Gale, giving El Paso an 8-7 lead.

That lead didn't last very long. Bobby LaFromboise came into the game for the little dogs and gave Las Vegas their third two-run homer of the game and a 9-8 lead.

That lead didn't last very long either. Jace Peterson led off the bottom of the seventh inning with his first AAA home run to tie it up. Two outs later, Jake Goebbert hit his first home run for El Paso to take the lead. It was Goebbert's seventh homer of the season, as he had six with Sacramento before he was acquired in the Kyle Blanks trade. His blast proved to be the deciding factor, as both bullpens put up zeros from then on.

Five players had two hits for the Chihuahuas: Peterson, Goebbert, Greene, Rico Noel, and Jonathan Galvez. Peterson and Greene got extra bases out of both of their hits, finishing with six total bases apiece. Peterson and Greene also both drove in and scored multiple runs each.

The Chihuahuas will be on the road tomorrow night, taking on Goebbert's former teammates in Sacramento. Since the Padres have the day off, would you want to take part in a Chihuahuas open game thread? Audio of all minor league games is available for free via their official site, so there's no reason not to...

The Rockies played one of their most exciting games of the season on Sunday. Fortunately, they came out on top.

When Rockies closer LaTroy Hawkins blew his first save of 2014 by serving up a two-run homer to Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera, Justin Morneau and Nick Masset knew they had to step up.

"We all have faith in our closer, but he's not going to be perfect all year," Morneau said after the game. "When guys make a mistake, to be able to pick each other up is big and shows a lot about the resiliency of our team."

Morneau did his part to pick up the Rockies' 41-year-old closer by hitting a 3-2 fastball from Padres reliever Dale Thayer just over the outstretched glove of outfielder Cameron Maybin to give the Rockies an 8-6 victory in 10 innings and stretch their home series record in 2014 to 7-0.

The Rockies' veteran first baseman was looking to do some damage with two outs in the inning, and getting five consecutive fastballs from Thayer certainly didn't hurt.

"I got almost the same pitch [on the home run] that I missed on the 3-1, so it was good not to miss it again.," said Morneau. He certainly didn't miss this time, crushing the pitch into the rocks over the centerfield wall.

Morneau suspected he got all of it, but Maybin made it close enough to briefly cause some concern.

"I thought it was gone off the bat, but I saw him drifting back and it scared me a little bit," the 33-year-old Canadian said. "But, as good of an athlete as [Maybin] is, if he can't catch it then it's definitely gone."

The walk-off homer was the sixth of Morneau's career and his first with the Rockies. Colorado had one other walk-off home run in 2014, and that came off the bat of Charlie Culberson against the Mets in April. While it's not quite surprising having such a hit come off the bat of Morneau, it's still amazing to see from a guy who has gone through a lion's share of struggles since an All-Star first half in 2010.

Morneau's heroics might not have been possible without the solid relief work of Nick Masset, who pitched a 1-2-3 10th inning to earn his first major league win since 2011. The Rockies need a shutdown inning in the worst way after blowing a late two-run lead, and the 32-year-old right-hander delivered.

"That's when the momentum swung our way," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said after the game. Masset needed only five pitches and made the most of them, inducing a ground out, a foul pop out and a soft fly out, allowing the Rockies to get back in the dugout and try to win the game.

"That's my job as a pitcher," Masset said humbly. "I was just trying to pitch to contact and get ahead of guys. Fortunately they got themselves out."

Colorado's defense certainly helped with that, especially when Juan Nicasio was on the mound. That was no more evident than in the third inning, when Nolan Arenado started a triple play, just the third in franchise history. Morneau had a prime view of what unfolded to allow the Rockies to get out of a two-on, nobody-out situation with just one pitch.

"That was different than anything I've ever seen," quipped Morneau. "It's very rare that gets called but it looked like [Seth Smith] actually grabbed [DJ LeMahieu's] foot with his arm, and that's pretty much the definition of the rule."

Turning three allowed the Rockies to escape the inning with a one-run deficit, and the bats responded in a big way in the bottom half of the third. Wilin Rosario, who returned to the lineup on Sunday after spending a couple of weeks recovering from an illness, led off the inning with a bloop single and LeMahieu followed with an infield hit. After Nicasio laid down a sacrifice bunt, Charlie Blackmon roped a two-run single to centerfield. The next batter, Corey Dickerson, added two more with an opposite-field homer to give the Rockies a quick 4-1 lead.

San Diego rallied to within one with three consecutive hits off of Nicasio in the fourth, but the Rockies struck back the next inning on Troy Tulowitzki's National League-leading 13th home run of the season. Padres catcher Rene Rivera, who also had an RBI double and caught three Rockies baserunners trying to steal, got his team back to within one with a solo homer in the sixth before Carlos Gonzalez gave Colorado an insurance run on a broken-bat single an inning later.

Adam Ottavino worked a clean eighth but the Rockies went down in order in the bottom half, setting the stage for Cabrera's temporary heroics.

The win allowed the Rockies to return to five games over .500 and gained a game on the third-place Dodgers. However, the Rockies still remain three back in the division after the Giants scored a rare home win over the Marlins.

Colorado (25-20) will be back in action on Tuesday against those Giants (28-17) in a pretty big series -- or, as big as one can be in mid- to late-May, anyway. While the pitching matchup looks like a big matchup on paper, the Rockies have reason to be optimistic. Yes, the struggling Franklin Morales will take the hill for the Rockies, but he'll be opposite Madison Bumgarner, who has a 6.20 ERA on the road this season.

Source: FanGraphs

The Padres battled hard all the way into the 10th, using the famous hitters park all day. But Coors Field is a fickle beast, the Rockies know her well.

The Friars were chasing the lead all day today in one of the more productive losses of the season. Today fans got to see their team really push for a lead for once; instead of fizzling out early or being shutout. Donn Roach tried his hardest, but couldn't adjust to the worst ballpark to have your first MLB start in, and our legendary bullpen fell a little short.

The day started off well, as thePadreswere leading nice and early.Seth Smith crushed his fifth homer of the season to put us on the board, and we got to see Jedd Gyorko get himself a double. The two are now tied leading the club in HR's, although Smith is certainly boasting a much better 1.042 OPS compared to Gyorko's .493.

Smith jacks one into right field, rhyming it with his two-run shot yesterday.

Donn Roach then took the mound. He started things out with a 5 pitch walk to Charlie Blackmon. Not the greatest way the debut as a starter, but his team had his back. Blackmon decided he was going to steal; but Rivera wasn't having any of that. He was thrown out at 2B cleanly, but the umpire missed it. This prompted:

The Buddy Black Challenge Trot™

Black knew what was up, and the call was overturned and Blackmon called out. But Roach followed by walking Corey Dickerson on 4 pitches, and yet again, the Rockies pressed their luck. Rivera let them know that the first time was no fluke, and Dickerson was thrown out on an almost exactly identical tag. You'd figure the umpire would get it right the second time with Buddy breathing down his neck, but it took another Challenge Trot™ to set things right.

Tough angles to make a good call, but I think the ump just liked flapping his arms.

Colorado would finally get to Roach after three innings. Black was hoping to get at least around 60 pitches from Donn, but a two-run single from Blackmon and a two-run HR from Dickerson marked their revenge for the first inning, and Roach was pulled after finishing the 3rd. He just wasn't hitting his spots and gave up up 4 hits, 4 earned runs, and walked 2; only throwing 46 for his first major league start.

Rivera would end up avenging his starter by knocking in Cameron Maybin with a double, and Will Venable would then hit him Rene in after pinch hitting for Roach. Despite a fiery offense; the Rockies continued to edge away from the creeping Padres' run support. It wasn't until the top of the 9th that Everth Cabrera would take things into extras with a two-run HR, his second on the season.

Cabrera using that ballpark elevation to his advantage, dropping a HR into the bullpen.

Unfortunately we weren't able to get the ever-reliable Houston Street in at all, and after a one-two-three at-bat from the Friars, Dale Thayer would end up giving the Rockies fans a walk-off celebration in the form of a 2-run home run from Justin Morneau.

It was a hard-fought game. We got to experience what felt like a reasonable loss. We weren't shutout, we weren't pummeled or starved through a game of attrition, and we didn't really have any high expectations for Roach. Our Padres showed up offensively, but the Coors Gods weren't in our favor tonight.

The Rockies take the series, but we'll get to see a former Padre Kevin Correia throw against the vetted starter Ian Kennedy as we take on the Twins on Tuesday. Hopefully we can keep these home runs frequent, because Correia is the type of guy to light up.

TheThinGwynn posts a little too much for everybody's sake, and he got the only rec tonight.

Eight players have homered on their birthday as a member of the Padres. This struck me as a bit too trivial to base a quiz around, so a table and bullet points seemed like the way to go.

• A third of the occurrences happened on the player's twenty-fifth birthday.
• Klesko's first time was the only one to take place in a loss.
• Vaughn and Amarista hit theirs as pinch-hitters.
• Nelson's birthday blast was the second of his four career homers.
• Kennedy and Hairston each paired theirs with a double.
• Hairston's was hit in the bottom of the ninth and sent the game to extra innings. The Padres won in the bottom of the eighteenth inning.
• Grubb's was not only the first, but also the only one to be part of a three-hit game.

San Diego Padres rookie right-hander Donn Roach made his first major league start yesterday against the Colorado Rockies. It did not go particularly well: Roach went just three innings, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk in an 8-6 Rockies victory. However, it was a spot start for a guy who has spent the rest of the spring in the bullpen, and overall his rookie season has gone decently: 24 innings, 3.75 ERA overall, 2.57 ERA with 3.12 FIP in relief, 13/10 K/BB with a 3.50 GO/AO.

Will Roach get more opportunities to start? I've always found him interesting so we will take a look at him as Monday's Prospect of the Day.

Donn Roach began his college career at the University of Arizona in 2009. His freshman year did not go well: 7.84 ERA, 22/22 K/BB in 41 innings, 56 hits allowed, serious concerns about his grace under pressure, and little pitching time on the agenda for his sophomore year. Seeing the writing on the wall, he transferred to the College of Southern Nevada for 2010, making himself eligible for the draft as a junior college player. His timing was excellent: some guy named Bryce Harper was also playing for CSN, ensuring that Roach would get lots of exposure with scouts.

Roach had a great spring, going 12-3, 2.67 with a 142/26 K/BB in 111 innings. He also showed much better mound presence and was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the supplemental third round. His pro debut resulted in an ugly 6.04 ERA with Orem in the Pioneer League, but there was a lot of bad luck there and his component ratios were better than the ERA. He was more effective in the Midwest League in '11 with a 3.45 ERA for Cedar Rapids and a 68/20 K/BB in 70 innings of relief work. More importantly, the Angels made some substantial changes to smooth out his delivery and improve his command.

Roach returned to starting in 2012 and was outstanding, posting a 2.16 ERA with a 29/3 K/BB in 42 innings for High-A Inland Empire. Traded to the Padres for Ernesto Frieri in early May, he remained effective with a 1.74 ERA and a 44/11 K/BB in 47 innings for Lake Elsinore, then a 1.59 ERA in three late starts for Double-A San Antonio. He returned to the Texas League and posted a 3.53 ERA with a 77/40 K/BB in 140 innings last year, making 28 starts. He opened '14 in the big league pen, skipping Triple-A entirely.

Listed at 6-0, 195, Roach was born December 14, 1989. He is not a strikeout artist and his whiff rates have not been impressive since leaving A-ball. That said, he's remained effective due to an extreme ground ball rate: he posted a 3.55 GO/AO in '11, 3.53 in '12, 2.37 in '13. and 3.50 so far in the majors. That isn't a statistical illusion or fluke, but rather the key to his entire approach.

The sinker doesn't have terrific velocity: it tops out at 91 and is usually in the 87-88 range. He has full confidence in the pitch however. It moves well and hitters can't seem to loft it, even when they know it is coming. Roach's secondary pitches are a splitter and a curveball, neither outstanding but both pitches work well when combined with the sinker. He usually throws strikes; the mechanical changes he made a few years ago enhanced his command and reduced the effort he makes on each pitch.

With a good infield defense behind him and a little luck, Roach can be effective. Most scouts seem to think he's a middle reliever going forward, but given his background as a starter it wouldn't' surprise me to see him develop into a solid inning-eater type, his initial struggles yesterday notwithstanding.

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This morning I wrote about a pair of rookie right-handers: Donn Roach of the San Diego Padres and Chase Whitley of the New York Yankees. There is something else that these two pitchers have in common: I shadow-drafted them both in 2010.

Here is what my 2010 Minnesota Twins shadow draft looked like.

1)Alex Wimmers, RHP, Ohio State University
2)  Addison Reed, RHP, San Diego State University
2)Niko Goodrum, SS, Fayette County HS, Fayetteville, Georgia
3)  Donn Roach, RHP, College of Southern Nevada
4)Eddie Rosario, OF, Rafael Lopez Ladron HS, Guayama, Puerto Rico
5)Nate Roberts, OF, High Point University
6)Rett Varner, RHP, University of Texas-Arlington
8)Thomas Shirley, LHP, Xavier University
9)Aaron Senne, 1B, University of Missouri
10) Danny Lopez, SS, University of Pittsburgh
11) Derrick Poppert, SS, University of San Francisco
12) Tyler Knigge, RHP, Lewis-Clark State University
13) Ryan O’Rourke, LHP, Merrimack College
14) Jamaine Cotton, RHP, Western Oklahoma Junior College
15) Chase Whitley, RHP, Troy University
16) Clint Dempster, LHP, Nicholls State University
17) Mike Nesseth, RHP, University of Nebraska
19) Carlos Alonso, 3B, University of Delaware
20) Alfredo Lopez, SS, Compton Community College
21) Chris Duffy, OF, University of Central Florida
22) Patrick Farrell, C, Regis University
23) Jamaal Hollis, RHP, University of Miami-Ohio
24) Jay Johnson, LHP, Texas Tech University
25) Austin Goolsby, C, Embry-Riddle University
26) Seth Frankoff, RHP, UNC Wilmington
27) Brandon Henderson, OF, Fresno Community College
28) Jamaal Hawkins, SS, Jacksonville University
29) Brian Burke, 3B, Lewis-Clark State
30) Zach Robertson, LHP, University of Iowa
31) Victor Lara, RHP, Keystone College (Pennsylvania)
33) Justin Parker, LHP, Consumnes River CC
34) Kyle Necke, RHP, UC Irvine
35) Robert Gariano, RHP, Fairfield University (Connecticut)
36) Kelvin Mention, OF, Brooks-DeBartolo HS, Tampa, FL
39) Bart Carter, LHP, Western Kentucky University
41) Sam Spangler, LHP, University of Hawaii
42) Brett Carroll, LHP, William Patterson
43) Derek Christensen, RHP, Salt Lake CC
44) David Deminsky, LHP, St. Cloud State University
45) Henry Dunn, OF, Binghamton University
47) Rashad Hatcher, OF, Patrick Henry Community College

This class was strong on pitching: Addison Reed is a big league closer, and now we have Donn Roach and Chase Whitley in the majors. Eighth round pick Thomas Shirley and 26th round pick Seth Frankoff are having strong seasons in Double-A and could get to the majors too. Hitting was not as impressive, although Eddie Rosario is a good prospect and Niko Goodrum has potential. Those were real Twins picks that I stuck with. I had an extra pick in the second round that year because my 2009 second rounder, Jake Barrett, didn't sign.

With Whitley reaching the majors, I now have five Shadow rookies on big league rosters: Kevin Gausman, Jake Odorizzi, Josmil Pinto, Roach, and Whitley. Josh Satin was just demoted from the real life Mets but he was rookie number six.

Looking ahead towards the 2014 draft, I would rank the top guys currently as Carlos Rodon, Brady Aiken, Tyler Kolek, and Alex Jackson in that order and would take them if they were available. I don't expect they will be. I suspect I will have to choose between Nick Gordon, Kyle Freeland, Touki Toussaint, Aaron Nola, and Michael Conforto, but I am still trying to figure out how to rank them.

My Shadow system needs more impact arms but at fifth-overall you have to go with best-player-available. That may very well be a pitcher, but I'm not sure, and the paucity of hitting talent in this draft class would make both Gordon and Conforto attractive. I could then fill in with pitching as needed in later rounds.

So, assuming that the top four are unavailable, who would you go with: Conforto, Freeland, Gordon, Nola, or Toussaint? Or someone else?

I am also doing my research for later round sleeper picks, the Whitley types, and will be writing about them in subsequent articles.

John Danks pitches well, but Sox still slip back to .500

In front of a decent Friday night crowd, the White Sox could never figure out a way to turn up the volume. The Padres had a couple of big blasts in them, and that made the difference.

Though he pitched well in defeat, John Danks Doesn't Know How To Win, and so the Sox fell back to .500.

Danks pitched seven strong innings, allowing just a pair of runs -- and only one was really on him. The count got him on Cameron Maybin's homer, as Maybin waited for a 2-0 fastball to break toward the center of the plate, and he crushed it out to left.

The other run? Well, it wasn't the White Sox' best work. Adam Eaton didn't read Rene Rivera's hard-hit line drive over his head, and it cleared over his head for a double. The Padres bunted him to third, but Danks nullified that move by fanning Chris Denorfia for the second out. That gave Danks an out, but then Adrian Nieto gave the Padres a run by coming up way too early on a cutter in the dirt. The Padres' Wild Pitch Offense gave the Padres the lead just a half-inning after the Sox tied the game in the same way.

Although the Sox' inning was a little funnier. Conor Gillaspie reached on an infield single when he hit away from the shift. Two batters later, he moved to second on Adam Dunn's walk, then took third when Cameron Maybin caught Alexei Ramirez's flyout for the second out ... and Maybin thought it was the third. While Maybin dropped his head and jogged toward the infield, Gillaspie took third. That 90 feet mattered, because Ian Kennedy bounced a curve that Rivera couldn't block, and Gillaspie came home.

Marcus Semien drew a walk to extend the inning, but Alejandro De Aza hit a long, loud out to center to end the inning, and Kennedy kept the Sox bats in check after that. He overcame some early command issues to last six innings, canceling four hits and three walks with nine strikeouts.

The Padres padded the lead in the eighth when Javy Guerra rolled a 1-2 curveball to Yonder Alonso with two outs. It was a putaway pitch of a different sort, as Alonso hit it over the wall in right for a two-run shot, and the Sox didn't have enough for a three-run deficit. Kennedy found his groove, and the Padres bullpen picked up where he left off. Combined, Padres pitchers retired 16 of the last 17 batters they faced.

Bullet points:

*Gordon Beckham went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts to stall his hot streak, but he made quite a creative play in the first, taking away a bunt single by redirecting the roll to Adam Dunn for the out.

*Gillaspie had half the Sox' hits to raise his average to .356.

*The White Sox didn't help themselves on the basepaths, either. Alexei Ramirez was picked off, and Eaton was caught stealing for strike-him-out-throw-him-out, which stranded a runner on third with Gillaspie on deck.

Record: 28-28 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights

San Diego opened up the series against the "other" Chicago team with a win.

Today the Padres scored in a delicious Home Run - Wild Pitch - Home Run sandwich that the White Sox lovingly handed to us. A stellar outing from Ian "K" Kennedy guaranteed the win to kick off the final series of May.

Three straight innings of a back-and-forth game of "who could get out the fastest" promptly ended with a leadoff solo HR from Cameron Maybin, his very first of the season, and John Danks had a front-and-center spot to watch it blast and sail into the left field bleachers.

Daddy Long-Legs plays long ball and pops a terribly easy pitch for a solo HR, turning it into a souvenir.

With Kennedy sticking it to the Sox through the third, it would end up being a wild pitch that plated Conor Gillaspie to give Chicago their tying run (which otherwise would have been a shutout). Ian struck out 9 in six innings, only walking three. He matched a great start against the more bear-like of the Chicago teams, where he also threw 6 innings striking out 6 and also only allowing one earned run.

John Danks, not to be outshined by Kennedy, threw his own wild pitch into the dirt with Carlos Quentin up to bat. Rene Rivera took advantage of Danks' impression and scored to take the lead that wouldn't be challenged for the rest of the night. Quentin seemed either bummed out that he wasn't the one to get the RBI, or stoked that he at least wasn't pegged for the millionth time.

Quentin waving home Rivera with excitement. More than likely because Rene was going to score, but probably more-so because the wild pitch wasn't planted on his tree-trunk thighs.

Kennedy pushed all the way to the 7th uncontested, and Yonder Alonso tacked on his fourth home run of the season for a little two-run insurance. Then the 1-2-3 punch of Nick Vincent, Joaquin Benoit, and Huston Street threw out the dirty off-white Sox like a load of laundry. That save keeps Street top three in the league in saves, going 16 for 16.

And for those who were keeping track at home, tonight the opposition scored 11 runs less than our last game.

An active gamethread today; dirtied a little by jodes scoring the only rec by posting cringy Alonso fedora gifs.

This post is the tenth in a series of either 29 or 30, depending on whether I count the Expos and Nationals as one team or two. Since the Padres are currently visiting the south side of Chicago, it's time to take a look at all the players who have suited up for the Friars and Pale Hose and piece together a 25-man roster. As always, I picked the players based on their peak or entire career, not necessarily how they did with either or both teams.

Starting Lineup:

C- Sandy Alomar, Jr.
1B- John Kruk
2B- Roberto Alomar
SS- Joey Cora
3B- Geoff Blum
LF- Carlos Quentin
CF- Mike Cameron
RF- Oscar Gamble

Cora gets the start at shortstop despite spending most of his career as a second baseman. His offensive numbers were far better than those of any of the eligible players with more games at short and even if they weren't, did you really think I'd leave Joey Cora out of my starting lineup? Geoff Blum is the easiest out, but gets the starting nod over the ever-so-slightly better-hitting Luis Salazar by virtue of his superior glove.

Bench:

C- Don Slaught
IF/OF- Bill Almon
IF/OF- Luis Salazar
OF/1B- Mark Kotsay
OF- Darrin Jackson

Although Don Slaught was hitless in his 26 plate appearances with the Padres, he was a very good hitter and an above-average receiver for the other 15 years of his career.  Almon played every position except pitcher, and Salazar played every position except catcher. Both he and Darrin Jackson can give the bullpen a break in blowouts, as they have both pitched for the Padres.

Starting Rotation:

Jake Peavy
David Wells
Jon Garland
LaMarr Hoyt
Atlee Hammaker

This is the strongest facet of the team; you know you've got a pretty good mock-rotation when there's a Cy Young Award winner in the fourth slot. Hoyt falls in behind fellow winner Jake Peavy and two others, all three of whom had longer, less troubled peaks. Hammaker was bad in San Diego and worse in Chicago, but makes the fifth spot here thanks to his time with the Giants, including 1983 when he led the league in ERA, ERA+, FIP, and WHIP.

Bullpen:

Goose Gossage
Dustin Hermanson
Scott Linebrink
Chuck McElroy
Vicente Romo
Jon Adkins
Bob Miller

Hermanson had his best success as a starter for the Expos around the turn of the century and as the closer for Chicago in 2005, but here he gets relegated to the middle relief role he served between the two thanks to the presence of Gossage. Linebrink had a strong career except for a two-week span in 2007 that made everyone turn on him and run him out of town, and McElroy was an underrated lefty who stuck around over a dozen years. Romo was a lights-out closer back before closers were even a thing and had even more great seasons in Mexico, where he was inducted into the Salón de la Fama on the first ballot he was eligible and is considered by some to be the Cy Young or Walter Johnson of the Mexican game. Jon Adkins had a good season out of Chicago's 'pen in 2004 and a better one with San Diego in '06, but his most redeeming quality is his birthplace. As for Bob Miller, he has made a number of these teams on the strength of his remarkable 1971 season.

Organizational Depth:

C- Miguel Olivo, Ben Davis, Jerry Moses, Ron Tingley, Chris Stewart
IF- Orlando Hudson, Tadahito Iguchi, Eddie Williams, D'Angelo Jimenez, Steve Huntz, Rich Morales, Aurelio Rodriguez, Ed Spiezio, Jerry Royster
OF- Angel Bravo, Miguel Dilone, Shawn Abner, Blake Tekotte, Johnny Jeter, Jay Johnstone, Rob Mackowiak, Jerry Turner
SP- Clayton Richard, Eric Stults, Tim Lollar, Kip Wells, Dave LaPoint, Adam Peterson
RP- Tim Stoddard, Dan Spillner, Alan Embree, John Davis, Steve Fireovid, Charlie Haeger, Mike Dunne, Aaron Poreda, Antonio Osuna, Steve Mura, David Lundquist, Adam Russell, Jerry Nyman, Tommie Sisk, Kevin Walker, Steve Rosenberg, Dave Wehrmeister, Randy Williams

The first name or few at each position would be good enough to start for some combined teams, so that speaks to the strength and depth of the 25-man roster. Is there anyone I sent down to the minors who would make your roster? How would your lineup look?

He's also trying to get Martin Prado's error overturned.

I'd love to have Tommy Medica get a hit, but you know what though? That's a very makeable play, a big league third baseman there... the ball hooking. No question. E5.

These were Mark Grant's words almost immediately after Medica reached base on Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks. No question. It was a fielding error by Martin Prado, plain and simple.

OR WAS IT? (Spoiler alert: yes, it was.)

After Medica finished his night just a single shy of the cycle, becoming the 11th Padres player in franchise history to do so, many started cursing the baseball gods so hard for letting history slip through our fingers once more. Some people even wanted the Padres to appeal the scoring decision so that Medica could be credited with a single. After all, the ball was hit very hard and one could argue that it was a hit, right?

At the very least Medica and his agent are apparently is in that camp. They filed for an appeal to review the error.

Review of Medica E5 submitted by his agent, not the team. BB said team would have. What if it's overturned? "That would be unique," BB said.

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) May 30, 2014

I believe the Medica protocol is this: His agent notifies MLBPA of desire to appeal call. Then the MLBPA files the appeal. #Padres

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) May 31, 2014

I highly doubt it. I know in this case they were in communication. RT @VocalMinoritySD: Would his agent initiate this independent of Medica?

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) May 31, 2014

Let's look at the play again. Fox's phantom cam caught a great angle of Prado's attempted catch:

Huh. Nope. That's an error, clear as day.

Grant Brisbee thinks so too. And despite his well-known feelings about the Padres, he does admit that he feels bad for Medica.

How do you feel about the appeal? Anyone think Medica actually has a decent case or is there absolutely no way the play gets overturned? Would you want the Padres' first ever cycle to be tainted and have an asterisk next to it for all of eternity?

Ray offers some starting pitcher options that you should consider streaming on Sunday, including Nathan Eovaldi and Jose Quintana.

The Streamer Report provides you with daily startng pitcher streaming selections for owners who prefer to stream starting pitchers on a daily basis. This report identifies starting pitchers who are owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues, and who either has a decent track record vs their opponent, has pitched well of late, or has a decent matchup.

Sunday's Streamers

Nathan Eovaldi, Marlins vs Braves

Eovaldi absolutely owns the Braves, and he gets to face them once again on Sunday. In his two starts vs the Braves this season, he is 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA, a 0.77 WHIP and a 12-2 strikeout to walk rate in 13 innings of work.

Jose Quintana,White Sox vs Padres

Quintana has pitched well this season, going 3-4 with a 3.61 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in his 11 starts thus far. On Sunday, he faces the Padres who rank 28th in runs scored vs left handed starters this season. Quintana has fared well vs National League teams this season, going 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in three starts.

Weekly Streamer Performance

I will be providing a status of how my picks have performed over the course of the season, and below you can find how my picks fared this week. Week 9 has been very good to us , so hopefully it continues on Sunday.

Fantasy Rundown

If you are looking for more fantasy advice, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown for all your fantasy baseball and football needs.

We won't forget Paul Goldschmidt's momentous blast in the late innings of Wednesday's blowout win over the Padres in a hurry. But you might be surprised to learn, it barely scrapes into the top 10 longest home-runs by a Diamondback at Chase Field.

Home run distances from 1998-2005 are by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Distances from 2006-present, are by ESPN Stats & Information Group. We're concerned only about D-backs home-runs here, because where's the fun in celebrating opposition homers?. The record by a visitor at Chase is the 485 foot one hit by the Padres' Cameron Maybin off Trevor Cahill on July 2, 2012. That's the only one longer than 473 feet. I wouldn't recommend going full screen on some of these older video; they appear to date from a time before hi-def, and look more like a game of Tetris on extreme difficulty. Blame MLB for this.

=10. 470 ft     Paul Goldschmidt 5/28/14 vs. SDP, off Troy Patton

Enough said.

=10. 470 ft     Mark Reynolds 5/31/08 vs. WAS, off Jason Bergmann

This one appears to have gone all the way on to the walkway behind left-center field. It ended Bergmann's scoreless streak at 21 innings, and was one of four allowed by him during this game. But he seemed to look on the bright side, saying, "I was very happy with my outing except for the home runs." All four were solo shots, and the 4-0 Arizona victory set a new record for Chase Field, lasting only 1:52.

9. 473 ft    Eric Byrnes 5/8/07 vs. PHi, off Adam Eaton

Byrnes's blast went into the seats at Friday's Front Row, earlier in the game. "I wish it was worth two," said Eric. "It’s been a while since I’ve hit a home run [his previous one came on April 13] so I decided to take all my aggression out on that one ball." Don't go away though, as it's not the last we'll hear from that contest in this article. Random factoid: the GDT for this one had seven comments.

8. 474 ft    Shawn Green 7/19/06 vs. LAD, off Derek Lowe

Man, remember when Shawn Green was a thing? To the point that we actually gave him a contract extension? Wiser heads prevailed, and we were eventually able to dump him on the Mets, but it was a rough patch. Still, he'll always have this one, about which I'm able to find almost nothing, except for the fact that it apparently went into the picnic area, situated behind the batter's eye.

7. 478 ft    Justin Upton 4/12/11 vs. STL off Chris Carpenter

I'll copy-paste what I said about this one in 2011. "Just a fastball out over the plate and I put a good swing on it," Upton said, in what has got to be the understatement of the year. [This] ended up as the third-longest by any hitter in the majors during 2011. Justin Upton didn't kill this ball. He didn't simply murder it. As a result of this home-run, he is now under investigation by the United Nations for genocide and other war crimes.

=5. 481 ft    Mark Reynolds    7/28/09 vs. PHI, off Brad Lidge

"It was a hanging slider, to left-center, in Arizona. I still remember it like it was yesterday. The next day, one of the umpires told me it looked like a tee shot, like a high draw. He said the ball got small, real quick. That one felt good." - Reynolds. I can't embed this one, so here's a link to the video,

=5. 481 ft    Justin Upton    7/6/08 vs. SD, off Josh Banks

Stop me if this sounds somewhat familiar. "Utterly crushing a ball into Friday's Front Row. And not the bottom row either, but the top tier: a couple of feet to the left, and it would have been pinging around the inside of the restaurant like a psychotic pinball. "I just caught it perfect and it took off a little bit," said Upton, in what appears to be [another!] entry for Understatement of the Year."

4. 482 ft    Chris Young 9/22/07 vs. LAD, off David Wells

The furthest first pitch home-run in team history, but then, there have only been four of those all told. It wasn't the longest hit that season by "true" distance - that went to a 495 ft. shot by Aramis Ramirez, but it had a 15 mph tail-wind, and adjusted for standard conditions, lost 57 feet. By that benchmark, Young's home-run was the longest by any player in 2007.

3. 486 ft    Tony Clark 5/8/07 vs. PHI, off Adam Eaton

Yep, it's the second appearance of both the game and Eaton in this list. I don't think he misses Chase, having won only once in seven starts, with a 5.74 ERA here. Interestingly, this one was originally thought to be shorter than Byrnes's above, coming in at "only" 457 feet, but on re-assessment turned out to be not just longer, but also the biggest bomb of the season at Chase Field.

2. 503 ft    Richie Sexson 4/26/04 vs. CHI, off Francis Beltran

This is the one people remember, hitting the ball off his own face and breaking a cell on the Jumbotron that cost $360 to replace: Jerry Colangelo let Sexson off the bill. "The people here are going to enjoy watching Richie Sexson all year long," Chicago manager Dusty Baker said. However, as I wrote on the anniversary of the blast, "Two games later, Sexson tore the muscle off his shoulder on a checked swing from hell: he was never the same again, and the Diamondbacks were on their way to one of the worst seasons in major-league history."

1. 504 ft Adam Dunn 9/27/08 vs. COL, off Glendon Rusch

Perhaps overshadowed and forgotten, compared to the SexsonBomb, this is the longest home-run of all-time at Chase Field. One metric rated it the most impressive home-run since HitTrackerOnline started gathering its data, and there hasn't been another official 500-footer since. Whether this reflects a decrease in hyperbole (many people initially claimed Goldie's was that distance) or perhaps, stricter PED testing nowadays, remains to be seen.

The best defense is a good offense, and not the other way around

Hawk Harrelson says the No. 1 rule in baseball is to catch the ball, but today showed why other rules are necessary. The White Sox did just about everything they could within their individual talents to keep runs off the board defensively, but the team's arms and bats didn't comply.

Instead, the Sox slipped back below .500 with a second consecutive low-output loss.

It should have been worse. "Led" by an Andre Rienzo who just didn't have it today, White Sox pitching allowed 18 baserunners (10 hits, seven walks, one HBP) over nine innings, but only four runs crossed the plate. Three double played helped, including a strike-him-out-throw-him-out and a sweet Alexei Ramirez 6-3 after catching a sinking liner.

Rienzo:Snabbed a hard-hit comebacker and wheeled to third, catching Will Venable off the bag. The ensuing rundown wasn't well-executed, allowing Cameron Maybin to reach second and later score, but hey.

Conor Gillaspie:Seth Smith tried defying the shift for an RBI single, but Gillaspie hit the ground to snare it, and got the ball to first just in time.

Adam Eaton: Turned a two-run single into a one-run single with a great throw home. Tyler Flowers caught it on the fly, which also took him into a path of a non-sliding Quentin. The collision of two solid men resulted in no casualties but one out.

Eaton also made another tremendous throw home that made a sac fly way closer than seemed likely. Throw in a strong throwing day by Flowers (2-for-3, including one that withstood a challenge), and the Sox' run prevention crew was ultimately successful, even without the best pitching driving the engine.

Unfortunately, a timely diving catch on San Diego's end by Chris Denorfia killed a promising moment for the Sox, and such rallies were few and far between.

The White Sox trailed 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Ramirez stood on first (single, stolen base) and Alejandro De Aza on first (walk) with two outs. Up came Tyler Flowers, who hit one off the end of the bat to right field. It had all the makings of a 2014 Tyler Flowers Single, but Denorfia stretched out and picked the ball before it hit the turf for the final out.

The Sox did score twice as many runs as they did the day before, but neither run was one for the scrapbook. In the second, the Sox cut into a 2-0 deficit ... when De Aza grounded into a first-pitch double play. Scored a run. Big deal.

One inning later, Dayan Viciedo followed De Aza with a first-pitch double play ... after Gillaspie drew a four-pitch walk ahead of him. Viciedo did redeem himself somewhat in the fifth. With two outs, he laced a double to center field to drive in Eaton, cutting the Padres' lead to 3-2.

Each time the Sox scored, though, the Padres found a way to get the run back immediately. The Sox needed a crooked number or two, but they went down without much of a fight once again. Tyson Ross and three Padres relievers retired nine of the last 10 batters they faced.

Bullet points:

*The Sox also scraped together more hits than they did the day before, but it's just a 5-4 edge there. Ramirez and Viciedo collected two hits apiece; Paul Konerko had the other one.

*Gordon Beckham isn't a fan of this series -- he's 0-for-8 with five strikeouts. He avoided the silver sombrero today, but Adam Dunn picked it up for him.

Record: 28-29 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights

Matching the offense of the day before, the Padres take the series against the White Sox.

Something about May 31st just clicks with the Padres. With the second highest win rate for the organization compared to March 30th and 31st, the Pads confirmed the end-of-May juju with another win. Another incredible outing from Tyson Ross, some unexpected offensive production from Will Venable, and a little magic from Chris Denorfia sprinkled in put the Padres ahead today.

The offensive bout started early; with an earned walk from Yonder Alonso and a subsequent RBI from Venable. Will's hit was ripped into the deep corner of right field as the new-and-improved speed from Yonder we've come to appreciate put the Padres on the board. One out later, Rene Rivera would plate Chris Denorfia after Deno replaced Cameron Maybin on the bases, who left due to calf tightness.

Venable hitting with RISP + Alonso legging out a run from first base = ??????????????????

Tyson Ross would end up only allowing two runs all day; just one of them earned. He struck out five and walked three, but kept true to his posted 2.85 ERA. The runs were split up, one a piece in the 2nd and 5th inning. Though Ross was bailed out big time in the 4th from the uncontrollable Denosaur:

Denorfia not only knows how to lay out for great catches, he also knows how to physically over-emphasize how great it really was.

Regardless, it was Venable's second RBI in the third inning and a sacrifice fly from Alexi Amarista that would keep the Padres ahead; allowing Huston Street to come in yet again and punch in his 17th save in a row. Street is now tied for first in the league in saves, and is the only closing pitcher in the majors with a perfect save record for 2014 thus far.

Beautiful.

A solid outing from a great starting pitcher, key hits with RISP from the middle of the lineup, highlight-reel-worthy plays in the outfield, and a guaranteed win from a dominating closer. Seems like a classically good Padres win to me.

The Friars get to kick off June baseball bright and early tomorrow at 11AM PST.

An active Saturday; Friar Fever topped at 100 comments and Sam took home the only rec today with a borderline dad joke.

Our Friars close out their road trip today as they try to complete the sweep against the White Sox.

A road sweep and happy flight are on the line in today's series finale in Chicago. Our Padres have won four of their last six games while scoring four or more runs each time. That's certainly a huge deal for one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the majors. Hopefully they can continue that trend this afternoon and finish this road trip strong before heading back to San Diego.

Eric Stults will get the ball, returning to the mound at U.S. Cellular Field for the first time since his short stint with the White Sox. The lefty only made two appearances - one as a starter and one as a reliever - for Chicago in 2012. Two days after his relief appearance he was DFA, and after another two days he was claimed by San Diego.

Stults has only one career outing against the White Sox under his belt. He pitched against them back in 2008 as a member of the Dodgers staff. He threw a four-hit shutout en route to a 5-0 Dodgers win. He's had an up-and-down 2014 season so far and he's coming off a couple of starts that were less than impressive. He allowed three runs in each of his last two outings, spanning 9 1/3 innings. He also issued a season-high four walks his last time out, which is more than he had given up in his previous seven starts combined. Overall Stults is 2-3 with a 3.49 ERA on the year.

Meanwhile Chris Sale has been dominating in 2014. The southpaw is 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA this season. A rainout cut his last outing short, but he was dealing, striking out four batters in three shutout innings against Cleveland. He was originally scheduled to pitch tomorrow night against Clayton Kershaw in L.A., but White Sox manager Robin Ventura decided to move his start up a day because of his short outing against the Indians. Chicago hopes Sale can be the answer in helping them avoid a sweep at home at the hands of San Diego. This will be his first time facing the Friars.

Catch the finale of the series this morning at 11:10 PDT and watch our boys get their first sweep of 2014.